Top 10 takeaways from NFL Conference Championship Sunday

Championship Sunday was a tale of two different games. The early matchup between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos came down to the last seconds with Peyton Manning leading his team to victory.

Meanwhile, the NFC Championship game was a blowout from the second Carolina took a 10-0 lead less than 11 minutes into the first quarter.

From New England’s offensive line absolutely failing Tom Brady to Carson Palmer putting up a historically bad playoff performance, there were a ton of players that ended up with egg on their face when all was said and done.

None of this discounts what the likes of Cam Newton, Von Miller and Luke Kuechly did to help their respective teams to victory.

Now that we know the Panthers and Broncos will be playing for the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 50, here are your top 10 takeaways from two vastly different conference championship games.

1. Storybook finish for Peyton Manning

It was less than a month ago that Manning was acting as the Denver Broncos backup. He’s now heading to the fourth Super Bowl of his Hall of Fame-caliber career.

This was made possible by a mistake-free performance against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game.

The stats tell us a story of a veteran quarterback that managed the game perfectly fine without flashing the brilliance that had defined his career in the past.

Manning completed 17-of-32 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns and zero picks in the narrow 20-18 victory over New England.

On the other hand, Brady threw two first-half interceptions in a game that represented his third loss in four AFC Championship game appearances against Manning.

Regardless of what happens in the Super Bowl, Manning likely ended his career against the Patriots on the highest of possible notes. In the process, he joined four other quarterbacks for the third-most conference titles in NFL history (four) behind Brady (six) and John Elway (five).

We can talk about Manning’s inability to win the big game when it counts the most. That’s a legitimate criticism. We can’t, however, question what he did after being inserted back into the starting lineup for the playoffs. That in and of itself is absolutely stunning.

And no matter what happens at Levi’s Stadium in two weeks, Manning’s ability to persevere through what has been a trying season should earn him the respect from those of us who have criticized him sharply in the past.

2. The Carolina Panthers went 15-1 for a reason 

There were a ton of people around the football world that didn’t seem to believe the Panthers were as good as their 15-1 regular season record.

Following a dominating 49-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship game, Carolina outscored its two playoff opponents by a total score of 80-39 en route to Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara.

Sunday’s performance against Arizona was a downright butt kicking. Cam Newton tallied 382 total yards and four touchdowns. Meanwhile, Carolina’s defense forced seven turnovers, including six by Carson Palmer himself (more on that later).

We haven’t seen domination like this in the NFC since San Francisco outscored its two opponents by 55 points en route to an eventual 55-10 domination of the Denver Broncos following the 1989 season. That’s some mighty fine company for Cam Newton and the Panthers.

Sunday’s blowout win also represents the most points scored by a team in the history of the NFC Championship game. That’s utterly insane.

We have no idea whether Carolina will come out on top against Denver in two weeks. What we do know is that its run to the Super Bowl was historic.

3. Offensive lines were dominated in the AFC Championship game

Tom Brady was hit a whopping 20 times and pressured on over half of the times he dropped back to pass. Under continual pressure throughout the entire game, his timing was thrown off big time.

He struggled getting past that first read because there simply wasn’t any time. When he did have a clean pocket (not all too often), Brady felt pressure that wasn’t there and uncharacteristically made poor decisions.

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More than causing timing issues, the primary issue here was Brady’s ball placement. He threw the ball too far on the inside on a couple second-half go routes along the sideline — two plays that could have played a significant role in the outcome of the game.

As it relates to Manning, he did a much better job handling the pressure New England was sending his way throughout the game. Though, it must be noted that Manning was only hit four times in the game.

Simply because it was impossible to perform any worst than what we saw from New England’s offensive line, the Broncos had an advantage in that regard. Even then, Manning didn’t let it get to him as bad as Brady.

He found hot routes, avoided pressure and didn’t make the same mistakes we saw from his long-time rival. That had as much of a role in the outcome of the game as anything else.

4. Carson Palmer self destructs 

Some of us saw Palmer potentially struggling Sunday after he threw two interceptions against Green Bay in the divisional round. Not a single one of us thought he would self destruct in the manner that he did.

All told, Palmer turned the ball over six times, including four interceptions, in one of the worst playoff performances in NFL history.

Showing that the stage just might have been too big for him, Palmer continually made poor decisions from the pocket throughout the evening.

And when Arizona had to play catch up relatively early in the game, he started to press. That led to some absolutely horrendous decisions on down-field passes. It also muted any hope that Arizona might be able to manage a comeback.

To put Palmer’s postseason struggles into perspective, the eight turnovers he committed in two playoff games equal that same amount of times he turned the ball over in his last nine regular season starts.

Outside of going down in the history book for all the wrong reasons, the real question moving forward is whether Palmer will be able to actually bounce back from this horrendous two-week stretch.

At 36 years old and with only one playoff win under his belt in 12 seasons, it’s going to be a heck of a mental challenge for Palmer to forget about what just transpired.

5. Tom Brady struggles, fails to handle pressure well

This is a continuation of the previous point. As to where Manning was solid handling pressure, Brady struggled. He simply couldn’t do enough with pressure in his face to help the Patriots move down the field on a consistent basis.

Sacked only four times, Brady did do a solid job avoiding initial pressure. That’s something he’s done throughout his career.

Instead, the issue here was when light pressure came his way. Brady failed to stand strong in the pocket, didn’t keep his eyes down the field and actually stepped into some pressure in the process.

It’s hard to blame any quarterback for not having success under those circumstances. Given Brady’s track record, we really can’t criticize him too much here.

The fact of the situation is that New England’s offensive line failed its quarterback big time on Sunday afternoon. In this, said quarterback wasn’t able to do what he has done throughout his career — will his team to victory against all odds.

6. Cam Newton, Mr. NFL 

You may have an issue with Newton’s celebration dances. Heck, you could be like some people out there who refuse to accept that fact that he’s just having fun playing football. That’s fine and dandy.

That’s also different than not acknowledging what we have seen from the NFL’s likely MVP this season. Not only did Newton take the next step, he danced his way through a few extra steps in the process.

Including Sunday’s four-touchdown performance, Newton has tallied 50 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 18 games this season. He’s also led a somewhat talent-stricken offense to the most points in the league, putting up 30-plus points 10 times.

All the while, Newton has shown that youthful exuberance and the joy of playing football isn’t a lost art in today’s NFL. Considering what we have seen from the league (its players included), this is definitely a breath of fresh air for those of us who enjoy football.

7. Dominating defensive performances won the day

The winning teams on Sunday forced a whopping nine turnovers while yielding an average of just 16.5 points. Heck, the Patriots and Cardinals combined to convert on 5-of-25 third down opportunities.

This was complete and utter domination for the two squads set to meet in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s in two weeks.

Led by Von Miller (more on him later), the Broncos defense hit Tom Brady a whopping 20 times en route to one of the most lopsided trench battles we have seen in playoff history.

Meanwhile, Patriots receivers caught just 12 of the 22 passes thrown their way for a total of 92 yards. That’s an average of just 4.2 yards per target and 7.7 yards per reception.

And while Rob Gronkowski broke out big time, the big men up front did their jobs. Patriots running backs tallied a total of 31 yards on 14 rush attempts. How bad was it for the Pats running game? Tom Brady was the team’s leading rusher with 13 yards on three attempts.

For the Panthers, it was more of a suffocating all-around performance. Luke Kuechly continued to dominate in the front seven, eventually finding a way to return a Carson Palmer interception (one of his four picks) for a touchdown.

Outside of that interception, the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year stepped his game up in a major way when Thomas Davis left with a broken forearm in the first half.

That’s the key here. Carolina’s defense didn’t miss a beat with Davis sidelined. Instead, it played at the very same high level we have become accustomed to this season. That’s the true definition of a difference-maker.

On the back end of the defense, Carolina’s secondary shut down what had been the best passing game in the NFC during the regular season.

Larry Fitzgerald was held to four receptions for 30 yards on seven targets. Meanwhile, coming off a two-touchdown performance last week, Michael Floyd caught just three of the eight passes thrown his way.

A lot of this had to do with Palmer’s disastrous outing, but we have to give credit where it’s due. The Panthers defense dominated on all levels Sunday evening. And that’s the primary reason they are heading to Santa Clara.

8. It’s time for the Patriots to spend some cash in free agency

New England is set in its ways. It will not overspend for other team’s free agents. It will also avoid overspending to retain its own free agents. This is a philosophy that has led to what is among the great dynasties in sports history.

It’s also a philosophy the organization needs to change up a tad this upcoming spring.

With an estimated $5 million in cap room, something will have to be done here to make the Patriots a player in the free agent market.

That could include reducing Tom Brady’s base salary from $9 million, something he’s done throughout his career. It could also include the release of veterans such as Danny Amendola and Sebastian Vollmer.

Either way, something needs to be done here in order for the Patriots to keep up with the top teams in the AFC.

If that means spending money on a top end left tackle and a true No. 1 receiver, then so be it. Brady has given so much to this organization. Its time the organization repays him as he enters the twilight of his career.

9. Von Miller about to get that straight cash, homey 

Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller is one of the best defensive players in the NFL. At his current rate, he will likely end up having a bust erected in Canton when all is said and done.

He was also absolutely dominating against the Patriots on Sunday — a game that needed to see the Broncos defense step up big time.

Miller recorded five tackles (four solo), 2.5 sacks, an interception and four quarterback hits en route to helping Denver’s defense dominate the Patriots offensive line.

More than basic stats, Miller changed the game on a a near every-play basis, finding himself in the Patriots backfield pretty much at will.

He also did a tremendous job stopping whatever run game New England was attempting to get going — a scenario that forced the Patriots to throw multiple double teams his way. That opened up pass-rushing lanes for other defenders to put up the other 16 hits on Brady.

This postseason performance comes on the heels of Miller tallying a ridiculous 60 quarterback sacks and 17 forced fumbles in his first 72 regular season games. It also comes after he put up over 50 quarterback hurries during the regular season.

Needless to say, Miller is going to earn himself a pretty big stack of cash when free agency starts.

As of right now, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is the highest-paid EDGE rusher in the NFL with an average annual salary of $16.7 million.

In terms of hands-up linebackers, Justin Houston comes in as the highest paid with an average salary of $16.8 million.

With all this taken into account and based on what we have seen from Miller in his first five NFL seasons, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he were to collect $20-plus million annually in his new contract.

Denver does have the right to place the franchise tag on Miller — a designation that would pay him $11.6 million in 2016. Though, it’s safe to say both are going to want to get a long-term deal done after what we have seen from Miller in the playoffs.

10. Super Bowl 50 will feature league’s top defense vs league’s top offense

Carolina scored an average of 31.2 points per game during the regular season. It’s also averaging a whopping 40 points per game during the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Denver ranked No. 1 in total defense at 283.1 yards per game. A clear sign of just how dominating this unit was, it also ranked first against the pass (199.6 yards) and third against the run (83.6 yards).

The interesting thing here is that Denver’s defense didn’t take a step back at all against two of the top offenses in the AFC en route to the Super Bowl. It yielded an average of 17 points and just 360 yards against Pittsburgh and New England.

We have two weeks to dissect pretty much every angle of Super Bowl 50. The analysis will range from whether players prefer boxers or briefs to any potential pregame rituals some might have.

For now, let’s all just take a step back and understand that this matchup between two teams looking to hoist the Lombardi in Santa Clara will pit the best against the best — almost literally. That has rarely happened in today’s NFL.

Check out Vincent’s other work on eDraft.com and follow him on Twitter. His work can also be seen on MSN, Fox Sports and Forbes.